The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 20, 2004
Filed:
Dec. 10, 2002
Hideo Yoshida, Saitama, JP;
Yoshikazu Mihara, Saitama, JP;
Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd., Saitama, JP;
Abstract
In the distance measuring apparatus, a passive AF sensor is used in which signals outputted from cells of a pair of line sensors are integrated for each cell to generate sensor data and an integration start signal is outputted upon start of integration, and when the peak value of the sensor data reaches an integration end value, an integration end signal is outputted. If the integration end signal is not outputted even after predetermined time elapses after integration is started in the AF sensor, the peak value of the sensor data is read to determine whether the integration is normally carried out. If the integration is not normally carried out, it is determined that distance measurement is impossible. If the integration is normally carried out, the sensor data is acquired from the AF sensor to carry out distance measurement thereby lessening the likelihood that it is determined that distance measurement is impossible more than necessary. The distance measuring apparatus comprises the passive AF sensor and a CPU which carries out various kinds of control of the AF sensor and calculation of the distance from a distance measurement object according to AF data acquired form the AF sensor. Whether or not integration is normally carried out is determined by the CPU with the integration end signal.